Face the Music
by Sasu-Cakes137
Summary: Who would have imagined that getting lost in your thoughts would take you anywhere worthwhile? Sometimes you just have to face the music. Starring Sakura Haruno and Arthur in the dreaded high school AU.


**Look what I did last year. Part one of three maybe? I have to write the middle, but the end is done. I like it the best.**

**Also, seeing how this is a high school AU, and my first one at that, there are some cliches running around. Sorry.**

* * *

"I can't believe that damn Heracles fell asleep during our presentation!" Sakura fumed in annoyance as she stomped down the Academy's-short for _the International Academy for Gifted Youths_- pristine hallways. "We would have failed if I hadn't memorized the entire speech last night." Her neon orange gym bag bounced up and down on her shoulder from her aggressive gait. You could call Sakura Haruno many things: violent, headstrong, hell even nerdy, but a failure? She'd be damned if she ever got anything less than an A on an assignment, especially if it was because of some lazy, good for nothing partner.

"That guy's lucky he's Kiku's friend or I'd kick his ass for that." She growled to herself, speeding up slightly in anticipation of soccer practice. Right now she really needed to run around kick something head shaped.

Unfortunately for the pinkette, somewhere between cursing her sloth of a classmate and fantasizing about shooting balls at his face, she had gone down the wrong hallway. Instead of being outside of the girl's locker room like she expected, she was in an unfamiliar wing of the Academy. The words _'Music Hall'_ were carved into a marble archway in gilded letters and multiple languages (even though everyone who went to the Academy was required to speak and write in English for convenience sake).

_'Music, huh._' That would be why Sakura had never been down this hall before. She had skipped that part of the introduction tour her first year due to the fact she absolutely no musical abilities whatsoever (it's not like she sucked at it or anything; she just never really applied herself in that area). So instead of wasting time visiting a place she would never go, she opted for hands on demonstration in the chemistry lab.

The corridor stretched in front of her in about one hundred feet of shining and pristine white stone. Oil paintings and wood prints depicting musicians and from all over the globe lined the walls. Sakura was in the middle of examining the portrait of Mozart when the soft strumming of what sounded like a guitar floated from one of the classroom.

Sakura fished her phone out of her bag to check the time. '**_3:23_**_, seven minutes until practice starts,'_ her eyes trailed up the hall to a door that was cracked open. _'I think I can spare a little time to check it out.' _Her curiosity was piqued by the melody coming through the door's cracks, which had picked up in tempo and sounded louder than before.

Quietly she tiptoed to the oak door and pushed it in just enough to poke her head into the room. There she discovered the source of the music to be a boy with messy blond hair- probably around her age- standing with one leg on resting atop an expensive looking amp (a classic rock star pose she noted with a small smile), plucking the sting of a black electric guitar.

Sakura took in his appearance as she watched him play. He was clad in the Academy's standard boy's uniform; though his black tie was carelessly piled with a dark blue sweater on the floor next to his foot, leaving him only in matching plaid pants and white dress shirt.

His eyes were closed so she couldn't tell what color they were-though she doubted she would be able to even if they were open, the distance between them was too great. However, she was able to see with perfectly clarity from where she was standing the…thickness of his eyebrows. Those babies were like _caterpillars_._ 'No! Bad Sakura! Don't think about that! You should know better than to judge anyone by their physical features by now.'_ She rubbed her forehead unconsciously and frowned.

The tune in the background changed once again and brought Sakura out of her scolding. It was melancholic and bittersweet; haunting and totally engaging. She was astonished that such a beautiful song could come from someone that wasn't some kind of famous, genius composer. It took her breath away.

Completely hypnotized by the melody, Sakura was caught utterly unaware by then sudden vibration of her phone-still grasped in her hand-brought on by a new text. She let out a small yelp and the mobile device fell to the floor with a clatter that echoed throughout the space.

A discordant chord sounded from the blond's guitar. His eyes opened and widened when they landed on the pinkette floundering with a cell phone. His face flushed and he tried to bring his leg down from his rather embarrassing position, but the amp's cord had wrapped around his ankle in his haste and ended up pulling him backwards. Sakura could hear his surprised _'Bloody hell!'_ from across the room.

"Oh! _Kami-sama_!" She rushed to the groaning boy's side and immediately began checking him over, babbling apologies all the while. "_Moushiwake arimasen_! I didn't mean to startle you! It's just-I heard you playing and I didn't want to interrupt, I hope your instrument isn't damaged. I'll pay for any repairs if-"

"Ah, I don't mean to be rude, but do you think you could help me up? This isn't the most comfortable position." Sakura froze midsentence as she took in his request. Her already red face blazed a brilliant crimson.

"Oh yes! Of course!" She took one of his hands in her, flinching a bit when an electrical jolt went down her hand-it was obvious he felt it too by the way he stiffened for a second before relaxing into her grip- and pulled him up with a small grunt. He was unexpectedly slender for someone his size, which was about two or three inches taller than herself. She looked up and was met with deep green eyes. Their gazes locked for a few seconds before they both looked away with heated faces.

Sakura's head bowed down as she sputtered out another apology. "I'm so sorry about this." Her hands fiddled with her red plaid skirt as she tried to avoid making eye contact.

"Don't worry about it; I'll be tad sore in the morning, but no harm done. My guitar and I are quite alright, thank you for the concern though miss …"

"Haruno, Sakura Haruno. Please call me Sakura." She peered up from under her lashes to examine him more closely now that he was standing less than a foot away from her. His forest green eyes were a few shades darker than her own and she could see a light dusting of freckles splayed across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. _'Sooo cute! Ino would love him, even with the eyebrows.'_

"Well then Sakura, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Arthur Kirkland." He held out a hand for her shake. She accepted it with a small quirk of her lips. _'_Sugoi_, what a gentleman!'_ She swooned internally at his actions. All the guys she knew were either perverts or way too comfortable around her to act like this. She took it in like a breath of fresh air.

"Likewise Arthur-san, but I wish we could have met under more pleasant circumstances." Arthur chuckled at that.

"Yes, you gave me and Black Beauty quiet the fright back there."

"Huh, Black Beauty? Who's that?"

"This," he said proudly while unclasping his guitar from its resting spot against his left shoulder. "Is Black Beauty, she's a vintage 1960 Gibson Les Paul. Go ahead and try her out; she's probably the only good thing to come out of America." He finished with a smirk and held the instrument out for Sakura to take.

"Oh wow…" the girl breathed out in wonder, one hand supporting its midnight body and the other gingerly clasped around the base of the neck. She plucked a string experimentally and grinned widely at the sound it produced. "This is so cool."

"Here," Arthur moved behind her and guided the hand holding the neck upwards. "Put your fingers there… yes perfect, now strum. That's your G-chord. From there you have C-chord," he positioned her fingers on different strings. "D-chord, and so on and so forth."

Sakura's face lit up as she each played each new chord. "So, those songs you were playing earlier," her slender digits continued across the pliable metal as she spoke. "Did you write them yourself?"

Arthur pulled away from the girl and looked down in sudden shyness.

"Er, yes, I did. Song writing is just a hobby; I'm not very good at it. I can never come up with any lyrics and most of my stuff is unfinished." He ran a hand through his disorderly yellow locks and with a sheepish expression.

"Not very good? Are you kidding me, you're amazing!" Sakura gushed in disbelief. How could someone be so blind to their talent? "I've never heard anything like what you've made."

"R-really? No one has ever told me that before…it means a lot, thank you."

Now it was Sakura's turn to be bashful. The grateful look that Arthur shot her had her heart thumping wildly against the confines of her chest.

"_Eto ne_, your friends must suck then if they've never even given you a compliment before." Her voice cracked uncharacteristically in nervousness. She winced at the noise. Since when did Sakura Haruno get nervous around guys? Where did the confident girl who could stand her ground against just about anything that life threw at her go?

"Actually, you're the only one who has ever heard them." He gave her a sly look. "I wasn't planning on letting anyone hear my ideas-they were supposed to be secret. Although you _are_ right about my mates, they're a bunch of _wankers. _Well most of them anyways."

An unladylike snort escaped Sakura's mouth at the comment. Her phone buzzed again and she offhandedly checked it. '**Where the hell are you Sakura? You're ten minutes late and coach is pissed, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!- Liz'** LATE. PRACTICE. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and she shoved Black Beauty back to the curious blond.

"_Kuso_! Oh man, coach is going to kill me! I'm sorry I have to go." She gave a curt bow and rushed to the doorway and threw a smile over her shoulder. "I hope I can hear the some more of your songs in the future, _ja ne_!" She waved and was gone, sprinting down the hall at a breakneck speed.

The farewell he was about to utter stuck in Arthur's throat as he watched the girl rush away, her long pink hair fanned out behind her as she ran. He kept his gaze trained on her retreating form-letting out a small snicker when she made a sharp turn and almost slipped- until she was out of sight. He walked back to the amp and plugged Black Beauty into it. His latest creation- the one that had been interrupted by a certain coral haired girl- flew from his fingertips with renewed vigor. This time however, the forlorn tune began to slowly morph and build into something sanguine and full of adulation.

"Sakura Haruno, what an interesting girl…"

* * *

"Sakura, watch out!" Katyusha cried out. The pinkette snapped out of her daydreaming to see the busty blonde goalie waving her arm wildly above her head. She turned around and just barely missed having a black and white ball smash into the side of her unprotected face. She stumbled backwards from the shock of the sphere passing less than an inch from her nose.

"Oof!" Sakura heard the footsteps of her teammates running towards her fallen form; Elizaveta was the first reach her and heave her upright, followed shortly by Katyusha and three other girls.

"Are you alright Sakura?" They all flocked around her, fretting like mother hens. Sakura could hear Katyusha speaking in rapid Ukrainian-apologizing no doubt.

"I'm fine everyone," she said while rubbing her newly bruised backside. "Sorry, I've just been a little distracted."

"What's gotten into you today?" Elizaveta asked with worry filled olive eyes. "First you were late and now you're spacing out on the field. Are you sick, _kedves_?" Her hand went to Sakura's forehead.

"No, it's nothing…" The pink haired girl blushed faintly at the memory of the day's earlier events.

"Oh, I think I know what it is," Michelle walked up to Sakura and threw a tan arm over her shoulders. Brown eyes sparkled and a foxy grin spread across her face."

"Isn't it obvious? Saks here is crushing on someone. Tell us who the lucky _garçon _is."

"_N-nani_!? No, no that-that's ridiculous. I have no idea what you're talking about." Sakura tried to brush of the accusation, but the way that her friends were smiling at her told her that they had seen through her rather pitiful display.

"Ooo, tell us who it is Sakura!" Mei was practically bouncing up and down in excitement. The other girls shared her sentiments as well; each one was pleading with little pouts on their faces. Sakura tried to resist their beseeching looks, she really did, but the combined force of their puppy dog eyes whittled her defenses away.

"OK, OK you win. I'll talk, but you guys have to _swear_ to me that you won't tell Ino." Her preppy, platinum blonde sister was arguably one of the Academy's biggest gossips along with Feliks and Francis. If _she_ found out… Sakura shuddered at the thought. _'That pig would end up telling the whole school about it!'_

"Deal! Now spill!" Bella called out and all the girls fell into seated positions.

Sakura sighed and flopped to the ground, hissing at the dull ache that shot up her abused tail bone, and recounted her meeting with the British teen.

"…he was so charming and polite. I only talked with him for a few minutes but I think we really connected." It was silent for a moment while everyone took in the tale.

"So, you got a thing for fuzzy-brows huh?"

"Eh, you know him Chell-chan?" She hadn't expected any of her friends to be on familiar terms with him. She was curious about their opinions about her crush.

"_Oui_, I've hung out with him and Francy a couple of times." Michelle shrugged and tightened her pigtails. "Arthur's a pretty nice guy, kind of a bastard though. He argues with Francy a lot, so I guess that's something you two have in common."

"Liz and I have a literature class with him." Bella spoke up and gestured to the Hungarian. "He's really good a reciting Shakespeare and poetry." The bookworm within the pinkette rejoiced at that fact. The more she heard about Arthur the more she liked him.

"I've never met him before, but Vanya knows him. He told me that he's very amusing to be around." Katyusha piped in, but Sakura wasn't sure if what she said was good or not. Her younger brother sort of weirded her out (not as much as her freaky sister though, _that_ girl was a pile of crazy).

"Oh actually, I've seen him with Yao and Kiku before." Mei spoke this time. "If Kiku already likes him that'll make it easier for you to make your move." She added with a wink.

"_Kami, _I totally forgot about him." It was common knowledge that her younger brother was fiercely protective of his sisters- _especially_ when it came to relationships. The normally stoic and calm boy would turn hostile and downright scary when it came to 'perverts leering at his precious _shimai_'.

"Remember when you went out with _grote broer_ last year? Kiku stopped talking to him for a month, and then would always glare at him until you two broke up." Short blonde curls bounced up and down as Bella giggled at the memory.

"Ugh, don't remind me. I love that boy, but he's a total pain in the ass sometimes. Although it was pretty funny to see him chasing Gilbert around with a _katana_ when he found out he was spying on us in the locker rooms."

The group shared a laugh at the boy's expense and continued to chat for a few more minutes until a sharp whistle interrupted them.

"What is this!? I'm gone for five minutes and you ladies think it's OK to take a break? Back to your positions before I make you sprint laps until your legs fall off!"

The girls quickly scrambled to their feet and scattered in slight fear at their coach's threat.

"Now, I want you to split into two groups and…"

* * *

"Hey Francis, can I ask you something?" The British boy inquired in a strained voice as they lounged in one of the Academy's courtyards. Being polite to his rival, even for a short amount of time, took a toll on him. But Arthur knew that if he was going to get what he wanted, he was going to have to be nice. His blond sometimes-friend had information about every pretty girl at the Academy, and the person he was thinking of definitely fit the bill.

"Why of course _mon cher_; but you don't have to ask how I get my hair so beautiful every day, I'll be happy to give you a few tips. First I start out by-"

"No you frog! That's not what I want to know, I want you to tell me about Sakura Haruno!"

"Honhonhon, so you've got a _fille _on your mind do you? And not just any girl, but _Sakura Haruno _at that." Francis observed Arthur blush and sputter with a satisfied smirk. Now _this_ was intriguing. _'I would have never thought about those two as a couple.' _He couldn't wait to inform Ino about this delicious situation. Plans shot through his mind a thousand miles a minute. "How did you meet that lovely flower?"

"I-I never said I was interested in her you _git_, I ran into her yesterday and just wanted to find out what classes she had." Arthur let out an irritated huff and crossed his arms over his chest. _'Bloody French bastard.'_ He should have known it would be mistake to ask Francis, of all people about the cute pink-haired girl; but after she'd left the music room last afternoon he realized that besides her name, he knew absolutely nothing about her.

"Don't be that way Arthur, I'll tell you what you want to know. Trust in moi." Ignoring the muttered _'I don't trust you further than I can throw you."'_ he took a seat across from the shorter (only by a centimeter!) blond. "Hmm, where to start… oh yes! Sakura is 163 centimeters tall with a 66 centimeter bust, a bit small in my opinion, but she makes up for it with a wonderful bottom and gorgeous legs. She-"

"That's not what I meant! I want to know her favorite color, her hobbies, things like that! Not whatever you were prattling on about." Arthur was thoroughly mortified at this point, his cheeks blazing hotter than the sun. He tried to shake the image of the pinkette in her short, plaid, uniform skirt out of his mind._ 'A gentleman doesn't think about those things!'_

"Boo, how boring. But perhaps you'd prefer to find out the rest of her measurements yourself, _non_?" He let out a delighted laugh at his companions scandalized expression.

"Francis!"

"OK, I'm done for now. Let's see, Sakura is currently sixteen-seventeen on March 28th- and is in your grade. I hear she's a real brainiac, only taking advanced courses, might even be top of your class. I'm actually surprised that you have never met before; she has a habit of sticking out in crowds and she's also Kiku's older sister." Arthur went wide eyed at the statement and a sudden flash of realization hit him.

"_She's_ that _aneue _he's always talking about? But they look nothing alike; they don't even have the same last name."

"They're adopted, all of his sibling are. Ino Yamanaka is the oldest one here and a senior like _moi_, then there's Sakura, Kiku, and the youngest is Haku Yuki in 7th grade. I think there are two more in college, but I don't know anything about them."

"Incredible, I can't I've been so close to her without even knowing."

"_Mon Dieu_, Arthur how can you be so dense? Not noticing that silken haired Goddess; her creamy white skin, the way her hips sway when-mmopf!" Arthur's hand clamped over the French boy's mouth. The aura around them turned dark and foreboding as a shadow fell over Arthur's eyes.

"I think that's enough out of you frog. Have I shown you my latest grimoire yet? There's a whole chapter on curses…"

* * *

Sakura looked up from painting her nails when she heard a terrified scream resonated across the school campus, followed by maniacal laughter. She rolled her eyes and continued applying _'passion punch pink'_ to her toes.

"I swear, this place is filled with nothing but creeps."

* * *

**Give me your thoughts and opinions. Do you want more of this? **

**Sakura and Arther are in their third year of high school.**

**Translations: ****_Moushiwake arimasen- I'm sorry, formal; Sugoi- Amazing; Eto ne- Um/uh; Kuso- Shit/damn; Ja ne- See you; Kedves- Dear; Garçon- Boy; Nani- What; Shimai- Sisters, Grote broer- Big brother; Mon cher- My dear; Fille- Girl; Aneue- Big sister, formal; Mon Dieu- My god._**

**I think I might of skipped a few of the really easy ones.**

**I use google translate and various internet resources for this stuff. I put more research into this than in school projects. **

**And I have no idea where this school is, but it's not in America. **


End file.
